Rüschhaus - one benefit of living a bike ride away from several castles!

Road Trip! - OK, Bike Trip!

Haus Rüschhaus, built 1745

With Spring threatening to come, the local tourist sights keep beckoning to us. We took the opportunity on a rather gray and misty Saturday to bike to another castle - Haus Rüschhaus. The house was built by Johann Conrad Schlaun, a famous German architect for his personal use.

Even though we biked a measly 7 kilometers, one boy said he was "so" tired. It wasn't even up hill!

Behind the Schloß is a Hochzeit Wald. There is a lovely tradition here of planing a new tree when you celebrate your wedding day (Hochzeit). 

Each tree was tagged with the Bridal pair's name. Most were too faded to read, but this one had been replaced.

The main entrance to the castle is from the back. The large, white doors are for a carriage.

The house itself was built from 1745 to 1748. The design was supposed to be a mixture of Westphalian farm and  sophisticated French country estate. Haus Rüschhaus was first used as a summer home and was sold to Baron Clemens August von Droste-Hülshoff, a German Catholic Aristocrat, in 1825. Droste-Hülshoff was the frather of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, a very famous German writer.

Her full name is:

Anna Elizabeth Franziska Adolphine Wilhelmine Louise Maria, Frelin von Droste zu Hülshoff. 

Adolphine Wilhelmine is my favorite part. Doesn't it just roll off your tongue?

Luckily, all you have to say is, "Annette", and people know who you are talking about.

We walked around to the front and saw a beautiful, formal garden. Just to the left of this greenhouse is a small grey building. The garden sculptures are hiding under these shelters until Springtime.

 Like all good castles, the required religious shrine is showcased just across the moat.

The gardens were designed with strict geometric patterns in mind.

You can just see the moat along the left side of the garden. Moats, by the way, were only allowed to Feudal Nobility as s sign of their status. At least in Germany.

The tulips will be lovely in a several weeks!

We found a protected bench (it was a bit windy and only 10 degrees Celsius) to eat our lunch. Boy number one's bike lock was malfunctioning and needed some attention. 

Above the front entrance was this lovely coat of arms. 

The house itself is closed until the Spring, so we will have to come back to see the inside of the house. I was, however, able to snap this shot through the sidelight.

There are so many beautiful things to see and visit here in Münster. It is hard to imagine that we will not be able to see them all in the next 4 months. But nothing can stop us from trying!

Pinkus Braürei

Six Months Later...

It is hard to imagine we have lived in Münster for 6 months now. We feel at home, but in some ways it feels like we are in a holding pattern at the same time. Since I am not in my own home I can't start on most of the projects (home improvement, gardening, etc.) boiling away in my brain. I am not *really* home. We are not tourists, but we are living here with an expiration date, and no matter how much we try to immerse in life here, the end of our stay will come.

However, instead of counting down the days till we are back in our official domicile,  we are living a very full and happy life here. The nice thing about knowing we are only here for a limited time is that we are much more likely to go out and do and try things, because we may not have a chance in the future.

This week, a colleague of my husband invited us to join him at a very traditional style German Restaurant, the Pinkus Braüeri.

Pinkus Braürei

Keeping with the traditional German style, most of the tables had bench seating. This is not a Biergarten, so there was no outside seating under Chestnut trees (but I will be sure to visit a Biergarten when spring comes).

There are plenty of decorations and paintings to give the restaurant "been around for a long time" feel. This restaurant is over 150 years old and is still run by the same family.

I don't know if this glass window is a depiction of a original founder of the brewery, but can you imagine the skill creating this out of glass would take?

Eintopf

An Eintopf (single pot) was explained to us as traditional peasant food. You fry up the potatoes you ate for breakfast or lunch and top it with the meat left over from your previous meals of the day. Maybe they were cooked in seperate pots in the beginning, but they end up together in "one pot".

Russell and I ordered two portions of an Eintopf. The wiki page is rather misleading. In ours, the meat consisted of two portions of two different types of wurst, and two portions of pork similar to a ham steak on top of a bed of fried potatoes.  Can you see the (hot) brick under the plate?

Needless to say, I think me met our monthly meat needs with this one meal. Whew!

Sauerkraut

I have never been a fan of sauerkraut, but I could eat this kind everyday. Our friend related a story to us about sauerkraut when he was young boy. His mother would make up a huge vat of it and keep it down in the cellar. During the winter months they would eat a portion of it every day, not because it was cheap (which it was), or poor people's food, but because it was such a great source of vitamin C. Today we can eat fresh fruit and vegetables year round, but at that time, you had to do your best with what you had.

Another happy surprise was Lima Beans! I am sure they were swimming in bacon fat and butter, but I ate the whole bowl.

Mmh, pan fried potatoes.

Quark - our dessert. I have mentioned before that one of our most pleasant food discoveries is Quark. It is low in fat and carbs yet very high in protein and it tastes so creamy and smooth.

This recipe includes sour cherries (hiding on the bottom, but peeking out a bit here) with a rum sauce and crumbles of pumpernickel bread.

We never get tired of finding new things to try. As the seasons change we keep discovering things we have not yet seen. There is always something new going on in town or something new in the supermarket. So, the adventure continues next week! Bis Nächste Woche!

Karnival - Weiberfastnacht, Rosenmontag and the Beginning of Lent

Karnival

So, lets start by saying, these German's really know how to party. Lent started yesterday, but the preparations really started a few weeks ago, and by preparations, I mean partying.

In the states, the only thing we have that compares is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Of course there are smaller celebrations in other coastal towns such as Galveston, but the main event is always in the Big Easy.

In Germany, the celebrations began weeks ago. The smaller towns have their parades earlier than the main cities. That means if you know the right people, you can go see a parade every weekend (we don't know the right people, so we didn't).

Weiberfastnacht

Last Thursday was the official beginning of the celebrations. The Thursday before Rosenmontag is known as Weiberfastnacht. The boys both had parties at school. Most importantly, this day is a day for women. In many German cities, the women literally take over the city. At 11:11, women "storm" city hall and kick out the mayor for the rest of the day. In the work place, women walk around cutting off the ties of the men, leaving little silk stumps. The men do, however, get a little kiss for consolation. And if a man is wearing lace up shoes? The scissors get a little more work - snip, snip! The work day often ends at 11:11 (A.M.) and that evening turns into a fun Girl's Night Out (if you know the right people). Münster's celebration is pretty tame, but other cities, such as Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Rosenmontag

Monday, Rosenmontag, is when everyone else joins in on the fun. There is an enormous parade of about 100 wagons, called a "Zug" (the same word used for train). The festivities began at 11:11, and the parade itself stared at 12:12.  The parade snakes its way through town very slowly. We met the family of one of our younger son's to watch the parade at their favorite corner. We later learned that the parade takes about an hour to arrive at this particular corner. We were there a bit early, keeping in line with U.S. reasoning of get there before the good spots are taken. 

Well, these Germans have a better sense of timing than that. We were there at 11:45 with the idea that half an hour would be enough time to get a good spot. But when we arrived the streets were almost empty! Well, we certainly had our pick of places.

This gave us plenty of time to people watch. Unlike a parade in the U.S., the spectators are expected to dress in costume - everyone (we felt a little weird without costumes). It is even different than New Orleans, where the costumes are normally Mardi Gras themed. Here is a taste of the costumes we saw.

The girl is an angel and the boy is a mat of grass - swamp thing perhaps?

I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on a bike. 

Dressing as a woman is very a very common costume. Most men end up pretty ugly, but this one was great. Such attention to detail! Notice the leg warmer topped with a ribbon!

The crowds built pretty quickly. Since the parade started at midday, most people brought snacks (except us, of course). They also brought something to drink. EVERYONE had something to drink, young and old alike. Thank goodness they also brought food.

Buzz Lightyear has a buzz!

Sexy costumes are popular too! Besides these construction girls, we saw a ton of "police women".    Side note - the temperature was only a little above freezing.

By 1:15, the crowds at our corner had gathered in earnest. The people were getting anxious for the show to begin.

And then we saw the floats. As the first one passed by, our friend said, "That is the first one, there are over one hundred".  Did I mention how slow they were moving?

Even though this is a family event, most of the floats were party oriented and not what an American would consider suitable for children.

Besides candy and pre-popped popcorn, plenty of other things were tossed. We happened to catch 4 pairs of sunglasses, two hats, two lanyards, and several bracelets. We saw, but did not get: a wurst (fresh off the grill), fresh and plastic flowers (roses, of course), pillow cases, or dried fruit.

Many of the "kid" floats were still a little freaky looking.

This float might have been representing the bakers of the city. Every few minutes steam would pour out of the ovens.

There were several floats having to do with clocks and clock towers. Between the floats was this crowd of alarm clocks.

After two and a half hours, we finally saw the last float - #110. We said Tschuss (bye) to our friends and made our way home with several pounds of candy.

But...

getting home was easier said than done. We biked home along the Promenade (a pedestrian and bike path that rings the old part of the city), but as I said earlier, the parade snaked through the city. We biked along to a cross street where we found ourselves at parade float #96. There was nothing to be done, so we hopped off our bikes, pulled out the candy bags and yelled "Helau", because that is what you do.

About an hour later and one more parade pause (this time we just pushed our way across) we made it home to look through our candy haul.

Above is gives you an idea of the types of candy we brought home. Most were gummi types of candy.

I thought these "Gummi candy from around the world" were interesting. Notice the "Sitting Bear" and "Kung Fu Bear".

Waffels were another interesting catch.

Brought to you by the same company that brings you those delicious gummi bears - Gummi A@# with ears.

So, now the celebrations and partying are at an end, and for many the real part of the holiday begins. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and many people were spotted with ashes. Both of the schools our children go to had a service where children could receive ashes if they wished.

Food! Essen! A few of our Favorite things.

A Few of our Favorite Things

There are tons of things that we are discovering on this German Adventure. One thing we all love is the Yoghurt here.

We have been eating so much yoghurt that I decided I wanted to try to make it. In the U.S., it will be impossible to find some of the flavors they have here (more about those later). 

It is so easy to make. All you need is your choice of milk, a container of plain yoghurt and a pot (with a lid) to warm the milk. A thermometer comes in handy, but isn't a must. You will also need either a yoghurt maker or a slightly warm place to put your pot.

Just warm the milk to 42 degrees Celsius.  If you don't have a thermometer, just warm your milk a little. It should feel a little warm, but nowhere near hot. Remove it from the heat and stir in a few tablespoons of  the plain yoghurt. Now, either pour the liquid into your yoghurt maker or put a lid on the pot and place it in the oven with the oven light on.

That is it!

In 12 to 14 hours you will have yoghurt! We have tried making it both ways and were successful each time.

The last time we visited the Kellersmann family, I mentioned my desire to try making yoghurt. Matthias was kind enough to not only show me how to make it, but to lend me his spare yoghurt maker.

Paton would eat an entire 500 gram tub (this is about a quart) of Yoghurt if I let him.  German stores have plenty of the traditionally fruit flavored yoghurt such as strawberry and mixed berry.  Most, however, are with fruit not usually put in Yoghurt in the US.   Fruits like dates, grapes, papaya passionfruit and other mix-ins such as oatmeal or other grains I am not familiar with. Sounds strange, but that is one of the few things I will really miss when we go back to the U.S. Paton's favorite is Stracciatella - it is vanilla yoghurt with chocolate shavings. It is also a very popular ice cream. Stracciatella  is similar to chocolate chip ice cream, but like many things here, it not quite the same!

Spätzle is another thing we will miss. It is basically a potato pasta that is used with many meat dishes. We have only ever had it with meat and broth.  I have never seen it with a heavy sauce. Of course, it is a dish eaten mostly in the south of Germany so we haven't seen it much here in Münster

I can't even begin to tell you about the sausages! I found this picture on the Wikipedia page, but I could easily take a similar picture from what is in my fridge (including some bake-to-finish Brötchen).

There are so many different kinds of Wurst here and they are all so good. Normally they are grilled (braten), which then becomes a gebratene Wurst or "Bratwurst". I once asked a German if they boiled their Brats in beer, which is the way the cool kids cook a bratwurst in the U.S. I will never forget the look of disgust my German friend gave me. "Never!" was his answer.

Pizza is also a little different here than in the U.S. We had a very good time making pizzas with our friends Carlos and Adriana. I met Adriana in my first German as a second language class. We sat next to each other and immediately became friends. We quickly realized that we are also neighbors!

Carlos is a theoretical physicist by trade, but is has some mad pizza dough making skills!

Chocolate is another thing we will miss when we go back home. Whenever we pass through the chocolate aisles, yes I did mean aisles, we keep an eye out for anything we want to try. We learned the hard way that if we see some thing we want to try, we have to get it them since we may never see it again. Of course they never run out of chocolate.

I can also make versions of our favorite foods from back home. A few days ago, we had some other friends over for dinner. They were excited to try some American food. I tried to think of dishes that are not ever eaten in Germany.

I made a roasted chicken. It sounds pretty easy right? But let me tell you, finding a whole chicken to roast was not so easy! There are little, tiny chickens in the grocery stores that are boiled for soup, but you would have to roast 3 or 4 of them to feed 6 people. We ended up going to the Metzgeri (butcher shop) and bought a whole chicken (6 pounds) for about $20. Ouch! (But it baked up nicely.)

I also made  sweet potatoes as well as a green bean casserole. We ended the night with an American style apple pie. There is Apfel Kuchen in Germany. It is more of an apple cake than pie, so an apple pie was new for our friends.

I must say that this is the prettiest apple pie I have ever made.

A few other things we have tried here and really like:

Fruit flavored buttermilk

Sugar Beet syrup - Zuckerrüben sirup. 

This is so wonderful. German sugar comes from sugar beets rather than sugar cane. We discovered this little treasure at the Kellersmann home. It doesn't look to impressive, but once you taste it you are hooked! 

It costs about $1.50 in Germany and about $13 in the U.S.

Quark is another food staple the Kellersmann family introduced us to. It is a dairy product with no U.S. equivalent. The closest you could get is cottage cheese. It is considered a health food here as it is low in fat but high in protein. It is delicious on a piece of toasted bread with a little zuckerrübensirup! This may be something else I have to make in the U.S.

It may not look pretty, but I could eat this for every meal and be happy.

One of Russell's favorite treats are these little cookies. To be honest, it is really a chocolate bar with a little cookie stuck to it.

Another favorite for the boys is an enormous version of a Hostess cupcake. Russell especially likes these as an afternoon snack - he has actually lost weight since we got here from all of the biking, so don't worry about him.

Some days we see something in the grocery store and just buy them.  These are stuffed cabbages. I sauteed them and then steamed them in a vegetable broth. Even the boys liked them!

This last picture is of our anniversary dinner - and not remotely German. It was delicious! Russell and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this year. He asked one of his colleagues for a few restaurant recommendations, but when we went to them they were all so busy and loud that I didn't want to eat there. I hate restaurants where the atmosphere is so loud you can't hear each other.

We walked around a bit (being Münster, it was cold AND raining) until we saw a quiet little Chinese place. We ordered the two person meal and ended up with enough food for four people. Each bowl had a different meat: pork, chicken, beef and duck. It's funny that "foreign" food isn't the same here either. It was Chinese food with a German accent - the egg rolls were about double the size, and there was no fortune cookie at the end.

We look at our life here as an adventure. We make ourselves go out and try things. Even though it is a little scary sometimes, we put ourselves in situations where we HAVE to speak German. It is the only way to experience living here. If we just stayed in our apartment and never pushed ourselves into situations where we are uncomfortable we would never grow from our experience!